Accidents happen, right?
by Knopp
Summary: What happens when Castle and Beckett get a little to caught up in their investigations ...
1. Chapter 1

I'm not really sure how long this one will be or where exactly I'm going with it.

Just have this idea in my head and trying to get it out :)

I do not own Castle!

**Chapter 1:**

Slowly pulling in, Kate parked her car in front of the hotel. She had hoped to get a good night of sleep, but as often criminals wouldn't stick to just the daytime. It was half past one when was woken by the ringing of her phone and there she was, half an hour later, at the „Kaden's", a five-star luxury-hotel, also booked by celebrities sometimes.

When she got through the revolving door she was confronted with maybe a dozen people, probably guests of the hotel. They seemed upset and worried and some of them had already packed, wanting to leave. The manager tried to calm them down, when he noticed Beckett: „Detective! Please, could you spare a minute? Some of our guests heard of the murder and now they are worried for there lives and want to leave."

„I'm sorry Mr. ...?".

„Davidson. Connor Davidson. I'm the manager. Could you explain to them that it was probably just an accident?"

„I'm sorry Mr. Davidson, I can't do that. Not until I looked into what's been really going on up there. But I will need your guests to stay here, though. At least until we've taken their contact information, just in case they've seen or heard something."

„But detective! The guests ... my hotel. My reputation!"

„I'm sorry, but I can't." To avoid further begging she was changing the subject to something more important right now. „So which room is my crime scene?"

„Ah, ... room 709."

„Thanks, we'll talk again later." With this she was finally heading towards the elevators.

Getting inside she pressed the button with the number 7. As the doors closed she wished she hadn't rushed this much to get here. She should have at least taken her time to finish her coffee. She was still damn tired, but that didn't matter right now, because she had an appointment with a dead body.

* * *

Room 709. This wasn't a room. This was almost as big as her own apartment.

While she was looking around she found that all her friends were already there. Lanie was looking at a man, who lay in the bathroom. It looked like he fell backwards, right into the tub, after he had been shot in the head. Maybe he tried to escape, but he never had a chance. Looking down the hall she saw Ryan and Esposito talking to a housekeeper in the living room. CSU was already working the crime scene. The only one she hadn't seen yet was Castle. She walked on, looked into the second bathroom, but nothing. Then into the master bedroom and there he was, standing in front of another body. A blond woman. Her arms where stretched out beside her, her legs were bended and she was also shot in the head.

„Someone's having fun", Beckett said while looking at Castle, his eyes still on the body.

„Had fun, Beckett. I don't think she can enjoy anything anymore", he said, finally turning to look at her. Now that she was facing him she could see that he was holding two cups of coffee in his left hand in a coffee cup carrier. A small smile formed on her lips.

„I wasn't talking about the victim Castle", she told him with a small grin, raising one eyebrow.

„Me?" Castle asked surprised. „No, I was just thinking. And besides, I prefer pulse ... and brunette."

„Brunette? Since when?" Beckett questioned, obviously thinking about Meredith, Gina ... and Serena.

„A while", he tells her, staring at her. She's noticing, of course she's noticing. She is looking at him herself. It's not uncomfortable, but she's not sure that she is ready so she breaks this moment.

„Ahm, .. my coffee, Castle. My coffee."

„Yes, sure. It's still warm." He told her, handing her her cup, just to get a smile from her in response.

* * *

This is my first fanfic, so please let me know what you think.

English is not my first language, so if you see any mistakes you can tell me.


	2. Chapter 2

_So sorry for the wait. Here is the second chapter. I'm already working on the next one, because I finally have some days off._

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

„Yo, Beckett!" Esposito entered the room. „The male victims name is Allan Parker. Theres no address on his ID or license. He checked in two days ago. As for the woman, she didn't have a purse or ID, but we guess she could be a prostitute. Housekeeping says she isn't the first he brought with him."

„Did they tell you anything else?" Beckett asked, glad Esposito hadn't witnessed the moment between Castle and herself ... or if he had he didn't say anything.

"Only that they got a call around one, demanding some strawberries and champagne ... and some pillows. When they came up ten minutes later both of them were dead."

"Anything else out of ordinary?"

"There clothes and luggage has been searched. Seems like the killer was looking for something."

"So the killer must have already waited outside for him to finish the phone call, searched there belongings and got out before the housekeeping showed up."

"Or ..." Castle interrupted "the killer went inside to kill them and was about to search there things when housekeeping showed up, so he hid somewhere until it was safe to sneak out."

"Either way Castle. This still doesn't tell us who it is and what he was looking for." Kate stated.

"Or why he killed them" Castle was nipping on his coffee.

"Okay, Esposito. You and Ryan look see what you can find out about our Jane Doe. Castle and I will look into Allan Parker."

"Alright, Beckett" Esposito turned around to go back into the living room. He had to get his partner, who was still trying to calm the housekeepers down. They were upset and one of them was crying. They probably needed therapy after finding a night like this.

On her way back she stopped in the bathroom to talk to Lanie.

"Hey Lanie"

"Hey, girl. How are you doing?"

"Fine. Definitely better than this guy here. So obviously both of them have been shot, but can you tell me anything else right now?"

"According to housekeeping time of death is between 1:00 and 1:10. Give or take a few minutes, because they weren't sure if it was exactly one o'clock. No signs of struggle, but I found traces of a white substance, some kind of powder on both of our victims. I have to run some test, but I'm guessing it's drugs. I can tell you more once I get them back to the morgue."

"Okay, thanks Lanie. Come on Castle! Back to the 12th"

He didn't hear her. He was walking in front of a big mirror, forming a gun with his hands and playing supercop. "This is detective Castle, hands up dirtbag! I sad hands up!"

"Castle, what are you doing?" Beckett asked, eyebrows raised and glaring at him.

"Nothing"

"Come on, we need to go." She turned around to leave, him following behind her.

They went down in the elevator and back in the lobby the manager came to talk to her again.

"Detective? Have you found out something?"

"We still don't know what exactly happened."She had hoped to get to talk to him again before leaving. "You do have cameras in your lobby?"

"Yes, we do."

"Then I will need to see the recordings."

"Sure, I will gather them up and bring them to you."

"Great, thanks. Mr. Davidson I need to ask you this. Where were you between 1:00 and 1:10?"

"I was at home, asleep. One of my employees called about 1:20 to tell me what happened and then I came here right away."

"Okay then I will also need a list of the people who were on shift tonight."

"You don't think one of them did it?"

" I can't rule it out, but I still need to talk to them. Maybe one of them saw or heard something suspicious."

"Right ... "

"Thanks Mr. Davidson. I'll see you later at the precinct."

As she was about to leave she noticed that Castle was already outside, waiting in her car.

"Castle, get out of my seat!"

"I was hoping, ... maybe just once ... ?"

To tired to argue she gave in. "Fine, but behave."

"It's me."

Giving him a look that clearly said 'Exactly, that's why I said this' she went for shotgun.

Closing her eyes to get some much needed rest on their way back to the precinct. When they stopped on a red light Castle wanted to say something, but when he looked at her, he thought she was sleeping and let it go.

Twenty minutes later they were back at the station. "Everything okay Castle? Beckett asked worried.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. You were just really quiet."

"You were awake? I thought you were sleeping?"

"How was I supposed to fall asleep with you humming next to me?"

"Sorry" He said grinning, hoping his puppy eyes would work on her. They did. Her glare started to soften.

* * *

At her desk she started searching for information about Parker, while Castle was in the break room making coffee and checking his twitter account.

"Here you go detective"

"Thanks"

"Okay, what do we got on Parker?"

"Male, 37 years old, married once, but divorced 3 years ago. He's got a younger sister, who lives in Seattle. His parents live in Jacksonville, Alabama. It's says here he's working in a casino in Vegas."

"So he was what? On vacation in New York? With a prostitute."

"I don't know Castle and we still don't know if she really was a prostitute."

The phone was ringing.

"Beckett."

"Hey, I've got the test results from that white powder I was telling you about. It's meth."

"Anything else?"

"I pulled the prints from the woman. Her name is Jacqueline Rodgers, she was in the system."

"For what?"

"Robbery and prostitution."

"Thanks Lanie, I'll call Espo and Ryan."

* * *

_That's it. The next chapter is coming soon._


	3. Chapter 3

_This one is a little shorter than the last one, sorry. But it's completely focused on Ryan and Esposito._

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

"Hey Ryan! Beckett just called. Our victim really was known for prostitution, so maybe we get lucky here."

"Okay lets keep asking around."

They had gone straight to Washington Heights to start there investigations. It turned out to be the right decision, because this part of the town is known for drugs and prostitution. You wouldn't wanna walk there alone at night.

"Excuse me miss." Ryan called out.

"Yeah sweetie? For the simple stuff fifty bugs an hour. Twenty more and I'll do anything you want."

The redhead had a short blue skirt. A short red top, stomach showing – you could see her navel ring – was covered by her black leather jacket. And then these four inch black high heels. It must be a hell to walk in them all day, every day.

"Oh, no miss. I'm not looking for a woman to..."

"A man? We can also cover that. Hey Johnny! Customer!"

"Coming!" Johnny called from the back of a little shop.

"No ..." Ryan blushed a deep red and Esposito couldn't stop laughing. "That's not what I meant. Ma'am, I'm a cop."

"Actually we're both cops." Esposito butted in.

"Not a problem for me. I can handle you both and I did had cops before." Johnny stated. He wasn't really tall. His blue jeans were slightly torn and we was wearing a white skin-tight shirt. His short blond locks were falling around his freshly shaven face.

"No Sir, we need to ask the both of you a few questions about a murder that took place earlier tonight."

"Okay, but I'm not sure if we can be of any help." Johnny stated.

"Just look at this picture." Esposito pulled out a picture of Jacqueline Rodgers "You know her?"

"Now sorry, man. I hit my head earlier this night. My memory is a little clouded."

Esposito gave him a look that said 'sure it is', but wanted to try his luck with the woman first. "What about you ma'am?"

"I'm not sure. I see so many people every day. But I don't know her in personal if that's what you mean. I might have met her on the street an not noticed."

"Thanks." So he had to go for the guy again. " So, Johnny ... what do you think it would take to jog your memory a bit?"

"Oh, I don't. It was a really hard week and you're scaring away customers as we speak. So I would say at least hundred bugs."

"Hundred?!"

"I could just tell my story to some reporters. I'm sure they would pay me more."

"Okay, fine. But you're information better be really good."

"Trust me"

"Ryan."

"What?" Ryan asked confused, not noticing what Esposito meant.

"The money Ryan."

"Why me?"

"I've forgot my wallet and besides I wanna take Lanie out tomorrow."

"You owe me for this, bro."

"Yeah. A beer at the Old Haunt tonight. It's on me."

"Not just one beer."

"Alright, two. Now give him the damn money."

Ryan was a little grumpy, but did as he was told.

"So Johnny, now tell us what you know." Ryan said while handing him the money.

Johnny was holding the 100-dollar-bill in his hands, holding it up against a light, probably checking to see if it was real. "Okay, here's the story. The womans name is Jacqueline Rodgers."

"Yes, we figured that out already. " Ryan interrupted "Anything else? Here usual spot. Was she working for someone? Any way we can find out about her recent customers? Do you know if she had any enemies?"

"Whoa, whoa ... slow down. So her usual spot is a little bit down the street in front of the jeweler. I don't know if she had a pimp, but chances are good that he lives or works around there. I also don't know if she had any enemies, but you know in this business anyone you deal with could be it. Some obsessed customer, who can't pay anymore but still wants her all to himself for example."

"Wow, really Johnny." Ryan said sarcastically. "You sure this information was hundred bugs worth?"

"No, but if I tell you that the jeweler she's always been standing in front of has cameras installed across the street to watch the shop for safety reasons ... yeah, then I would say it's worth it."

* * *

_I had really fun writing this chapter. Ryan getting embarrassed xD_

_Reviews are welcome._


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm truly sorry that it took so long. Just like I said in my other story – I was really busy, I have two jobs and the time before Christmas is the worst. I will try to upload more often from now on._

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

"Ryan and Esposito are going to check out that jeweler. In the meantime we should talk to Parkers family. And his employer maybe." Beckett just finished talking to Ryan on the phone.

"Are we really gonna fly to Seattle and Jacksonville? Or are you just giving them a call?" Castle asked curious.

"I'm not sure if Gates will be happy to see us flying to the other side of the country just for a few questions, but I can asked her. You never know." Beckett stood up and walked towards Gates office. Before knocking she took a deep breath. When she heard a voice call for her to come in she entered.

"Sir, Ryan and Esposito are trying to get the security footage of the jewelery store. In the meantime Castle and I would like to talk to Parkers family and employer."

"So? Just do it." Gates ordered.

"His sister lives in Seattle and his parents in Jacksonville, Sir. And he worked in a casino in Vegas, so it could be a longer trip."

"Detective, I appreciate you telling and I'm sure Detective Ryan and Esposito can handle without you for a day or two. The department will cover your costs. Just yours." She was glaring outside her window at Castle. "If you wanna take Castle with you he has to pay for himself."

"I'm sure he can handle this. Thank you, Sir." Beckett said as she nodded towards Gates and left her office.

"Come on Castle, we're flying to Seattle." she took her jacket and headed off toward the elevator. Castle following behind her.

* * *

"I hope I got everything." Castle was nervous. They were standing at the airport

"Castle." She was giving him that look again. "We are only away for a day, maybe two, and you packed more than I did. You have two suitcases."

"I need this stuff. We are going to Vegas. You can't just wear anything in Vegas."

"No we are going to Seattle."

"Yes, right. But afterwards we will go to Vegas." He smiled at her like child waiting for Santa to come.

"Come on. Our flight is departing soon."

* * *

When they arrived it was still early and dark outside.

"Come on Castle. We should find a hotel and get a few hours of sleep before we go to his sister."

"Okay, as you wish." They were getting inside one of the cabs outside the airport and Castle gave him the address of the hotel.

"Castle, this one is really expensive. The department will never pay for this. Lets try another one."

"No it's fine. I'm paying. I already reserved a room when you were asleep in the plane."

"You have to stop doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Paying for everything."

"I don't mind and I'm sure Gates will neither."

"Right, right." She mumbled, already half asleep.

When the cap stopped in front of the hotel the (Page) help carry the luggage and Castle carried the now asleep Beckett to her room. They only had a suit with a single bed left, so Castle put Beckett on the bed, removed her shoes and pulled the blanket up to keep her warm.

He called the room service and ordered an extra blanket and pillow and settled himself on the couch for the night.

* * *

Beckett woke up at 9'o clock to the smell of pancakes, bacon and coffee. She was wondering where it came from, because she could definitely tell that she wasn't at home. So she crawled out of bed just to see that she was still fully dressed. Following the smell she came into the living room where Castle was about to arrange the food on the table. He hadn't noticed her yet so she kept watching. He was putting a single tulip in a vase on the table, in the middle of both their dishes. Then he was taking a step back to look at his work and smiled.

Finally she decided to speak, "Looks nice."

He turned around surprised. "You're up? Morning."

"Morning."

"Please, sit down. It's all prepared. I ordered room service."

"You know, I'm not really hungry and we should really go interview his sister." She was turning away and Castle only looked disappointed. Didn't mean he couldn't eat something himself, didn't it?

So he sat down.

Beckett was in her room going through her suitcase for some fresh close to wear. She pulled them out and threw them on the bed. A jeans and a white button down would be enough, combined with her blue coat. When she came out of the room Castle was still eating. "Stop eating Castle. Get ready so we can go."

"Just a second" He said, his mouth full of pancake before he forced another piece into his mouth together with some bacon.

Fortunately he was already dressed so he just took his jacket and headed out the door where Beckett was already waiting for him.

* * *

Marianne Jennings, Parkers sister, was working for a law firm, so Beckett and Castle decided to go there first. It was a small building, with an amazing glass and steel construction. They entered the building.

"May I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"I hope so." Beckett showed her badge. "I'm looking for Marianne Jennings."

"She is in a meeting right now. May I ask what this is about. I could leave her a message."

"I'm sorry. This is personal. How long will this meeting take."

"They just started. An hour at least."

Beckett sighed. "We'll wait then. Call her the minute she's finished."

The receptionist just nodded and Beckett and Castle turned to sit down in one of the chairs. "I told you, you should have had breakfast." Castle mused.

"Could you get me something. I'm starving."

"But ten minutes ago you said you weren't hungry."

"Ten minutes ago I thought we would get this done quickly."

"Alright, I'm right back."

A few minutes later he was back with a coffee and a bear claw.

"Thanks" she could still manage to stay before stuffing her face with the food.

The rest of the time they spend talking about theories. How Jacqueline could have a boyfriend who didn't like her job and killed her and her current client because she didn't want to stop.

"Ms. Beckett? She's finished now."

"Okay, thank you." She stood up and went into the office, as always shadowed by Castle.

"Mrs. Jennings, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, this is Richard Castle."

"The novelist?" she asked excited.

"The one and only." he smiled at her, but stopped when he saw the small shake of Beckett's head. This wasn't the time for this, right.

"I'm here about your brother Mrs. Jennings."

"What about him?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but ... he's been murdered."

"What?" she was in shock. "No that can't be. Why would anyone do something like that?"

"That's what we are trying to find out. Do you know if he had any enemies or financial problems?"

"No he was a friendly person he would never hurt anyone on purpose. We where raised catholic, you know. Although he stopped believing after his marriage broke apart."

"And what about the money, Mrs. Jennings?"

"He had a good job at a casino. I don't think he had any problems."

"What was he doing there exactly?"

"I don't know. We haven't seen each other in a while. He just told me he had a job there."

"Thanks. Oh, one last thing. Do you know if he was seeing someone?"

"You mean like a girlfriend? No, not that I know of. The last time I spoke to him he was still hurting from hist divorce."

"When was that?"

"Six months ago."

"Wow that's a long time to mourn" Castle dropped a quiet remark, earning a kick with the elbow to ribs from Beckett.

"Well, thank you for your time Mrs. Jennings." Beckett stretched out her hand to shake the other womans. "Please call if you can think of anything else." She handed her one of her cards before leaving the office again.

"What was that kick for?" Castle asked clueless.

"You can be really insensitive, can you. Everyone goes at their own pace. So if he wants to mourn for two and a half years, it's okay."

Castle just shrugged. There was no point in arguing with this woman. "So what are we gonna do next?"

"We go and get our luggage, because our next stop is Vegas."

* * *

_Just so you know. I've never been to America. I don't know if there are any buildings or other things the way I describe(d) them in my story. Sorry if anyone might get confused. And I also have no idea how long it takes to fly across the country (including the time difference)_

_I know it hasn't been much progress this chapter, but I wanted to end it there. I have this scene in mind since I began this story and I'm working toward it._


	5. Chapter 5

_Here is the next one guys :) Have fun_

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

They were just unpacking their stuff when Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett"

"Hey, where are you right now? Gates told us you had to question next of kin across the country." The voice on the other side asked her.

"We are in Vegas, Espo."

"Wow. You sure you don't need any more backup?"

She couldn't help but smile at this. "No thanks. I think we are good. We're just here to ask some questions. I don't think it will be too dangerous."

"Why is it Castle is always the one doing the fun stuff?"

"Oh come on, that's not true. You did question the girls at 'Lady Irina's House of Pain', remember? I'm sure you had a lot of fun there."

"Yeah, once in how many years? ..."

"Quit pouting Espo. Castle is my partner so he's got to come with me. Remind me the next time and you can do this so called fun stuff, okay?"

"Okay. Well, but that wasn't actually the reason I called."

"Yeah I figured that."

"Mr. Davidson was here with all the footage and a list of the guests and employees."

"Great. Would you and Ryan check them for anything suspicious or anyone who might have a connection with our victim? Just call if you find something."

"Yeah, no problem boss. See you later and don't lose too much money, okay?" He couldn't help saying that last part with a grin in his voice.

"You better tell that Castle." She added before both of them said there goodbyes and ended the call.

Castle was already looking for something appropriate to wear. You couldn't just go into a casino in jeans and shirt. So he was trying on his best suit and stepping in front of the mirror to admire himself. "Aren't I ruggedly handsome? Looks good." He spoke to himself, because he didn't know Beckett was listening.

"Who are you talking to? You're imaginary girlfriend?" Beckett smirked.

"What? ... No, no. I was just talking to ... myself." He was a little embarrassed, so he changed the subject. "So what did the boys say?"

"Mr. Davidson brought the footage and the lists over, so they are looking into it now. And Espo is jealous, because you always get to do the fun stuff."

"Fun? This is really hard work." He tried to remain serious "We could get killed."

"Yeah, right. Just get ready, I wanna get over there before it's dark, okay?" She turned around to walk to her own room and unpack the rest off her stuff.

* * *

They got into the casino and she flashed her badge at the young man standing at the entrance, telling him she needed to talk to the manager. After a few minutes he came, just to guide the two of them to a room in the back for more privacy. The customers who went by didn't need to hear about everything they talked about.

"So, Mr. Donelli. We are here about your employee, Mr. Parker."

"Mr. Parker, yes. He's working in security, but he's on vacation right now."

"Not anymore ..." Castle stated quietly.

"What does that mean? He didn't show up for work."

"And he won't.." Beckett told him "He's dead, Mr. Donelli."

"Dead? What do you mean dead?"

"Well, there is really only one definition, is there." Castle wanted to say more, but was stopped from one of Becketts looks.

"He was murdered a few nights ago. Do you have any idea who could have done this? Did he have any enemies or financial problems?"

"We didn't notice any problems with his colleagues and the payment is pretty good. I mean he could have talked to us any time."

"Do you have his address? We didn't find any."

"I only have his old address. He told us two years ago that he had to move out and was now living with some friends until he found another place. But he never told us a new address."

"I will take this address. It's a place to start." Mr. Donelli was looking through some files until he found the address and gave it to her. "So, and you didn't notice anything unusual in the last time? In his behavior maybe."

"He seemed to have mood changes really often and really fast. But he was still suffering from his divorce, so we didn't attach a lot of importance to it. And he was spacing out a lot lately, but I'm not sure if that is really important. I mean we all do from time to time, don't we?."

"Yes, of course. But if it increased lately there could be a reason behind it." Beckett was writing everything down and closed her notepad. "I will also need to talk to some of your employees. Is it okay if we look around a bit?"

"I'm not sure Detective. I don't want my customers to notice anything."

"We can manage to be discrete."

"Okay, then go ahead." He said and led the both of them back.

Beckett took of to the first table and waited until it was empty to ask her questions. She continued like this for two hours until she saw Castle tossing and turning next to her. "What are you doing Castle?"

"I'm not sure, but I feel like we're being watched."

"This is a casino Castle. Of course we're being watched. There are cameras all over the place." She raised one eyebrow at him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know." She sighed. He had been right about a lot of things the last three and a half years, but she wasn't sure about this one. "I think you're writers imagination is getting away with you. Why would someone watch us?"

"Maybe we're getting to close?"

"We looked in almost every room. What should we getting to close to?"

"I don't know." He was pulling his right hand up to scratch the back of his head. "Maybe you're right. Sorry."

At this she just smiled at him. "You don't need to be sorry Castle. You're wild guesses and you're gut instincts helped us a lot of times." She started walking again. "Just this one room, okay?" He nodded and stepped behind her into the room. It was the control and monitoring room.

The guy sitting in the chair was about 200 pounds. He was wearing old and half torn jeans and a shirt with something on it that looked like it could be chocolate. When he heard the door opening he turned around to look at them. First at Castle giving him a disapproving look. Then to Beckett and his eyes where opening wider and wider, practically pulling her clothes off of her. Castle noticed his look and took a step closer to Beckett to mark his territory, although they weren't together.

"How can I help you Ms. ... ?" The guy was addressing only Beckett on purpose.

"Beckett. Detective Beckett. And this is Rick Castle." She pointed at him. "We need a copy of all the footage you've got."

"Sure. Which day?"

"Let's say the last three months."

"Three months? Why so much? That will take a while Ms. Beckett. You can't get that right now, you know." He looked almost scared of all the work he was facing. His shift was almost over, maybe he could ask he colleague to do it.

"We're investigating the murder of Mr. Parker. So if you could have that footage ready by tomorrow? We will pick it up."

"Allan? Holy Sh..." He managed to stop cursing. "Well, yes ... I will try to get that footage ready Ms Beckett."

"Great thanks ... " She leaned down to read the name on his name tag. "Tommy." He just smiled at her and watched as the both of them made their way out of the room.

"So that was it for today." Beckett stretched her arms over her head and was heading for the front door when she realized Castle wasn't following. "What's wrong?"

"You're officially off duty now, right?" He said with a grin.

"Yeah, why .." She stopped when she noticed what he was referring to. "No Castle."

"Come on, just once. It will be fun."

"It's pretty late. How about tomorrow."

"No, tomorrow we will probably just grab the footage and fly to Jacksonville, right."

She was hoping he would forget and sighed. "Fine, but just once."

"He smiled from ear to ear. "Great. What do you wanna start with? Poker? Blackjack? Roulette?"

"I said once, Castle."

"And we definitely have to get a drink. How about champagne? Or vodka?"

"Are you even listening to me!" She yelled after him as she tried to keep up with him.

* * *

...

It was dark. Too dark. She could barely see her hand in front of her eyes. The surface she lay on was hard, it felt like metal. But she could definitely feel something soft beneath her. She was trying to find out what it was, when she suddenly heard a moan coming from its direction and the object moved. She recognized the voice. It was Castle.

"Castle wake up." She pushed him. Nothing. "Castle!" Now she punched him on his arm.

"Ouch!" he was rubbing his arm in pain. "Why did you do this?"

"Because you wouldn't wake up."

Still rubbing his arm he looked around for the first time. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. I thought you could remember what happened last night."

"No, it's kind of a blur." He tried to sit up, but hit his head. "Damn, where the hell are we?"

"I think this could be a trunk. Help me open it." They where both pushing against the rusty metal with their feet until it gave way to their freedom.

"Finally." Castle let out a breath he was holding and looked around. "A junkyard? Why are we at a junkyard?"

* * *

_Yeah, why are they there? That's for me to know and for you to find out ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Fastest upload ever! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

„Castle, how much did we drink last night?" Beckett was trying to remember, but it was all blank. She was sure she wouldn't have had more than a couple of drinks. Enough to still be in control of herself. She wasn't stupid.

"I don't know, but judging from where we ended up I'm going with a little too much." He was still rubbing his head with his right hand where he had hit it earlier. Then he used the same hand to search inside his jacket to find his cell phone, but he came up empty. He tried again on the other side. Nothing. "My phone is missing. Did I left it in the hotel?"

"It's possible."

"Yeah it's possible, but it's not probable." He said with a stern look on his face. "I always have it with me. And us waking up in this weird place? There's definitely something going on here."

"You're right, this is weird. Why don't you take my phone for the moment?" She reached down into her pocket with her right hand, only to come up empty, too. "Okay, this is definitely no coincidence."

"Told ya."

"What?"

"Back at the casino. I told you someone was watching us, but you didn't believe me."

She hated to admit it to him. "Well, okay. You were right. I'm sorry. So stop gloating, because it's really unattractive." She really wanted to smack that grin out of his face, but they had more important things to do right now.

They were still sitting inside the trunks when they heard a loud noise approaching. A waldo was grabbing the car they where still sitting in and lifting them up in the air. They where screaming, but over the loud noise of the machineries the guy handling the waldo couldn't hear them. They thought about jumping, but it was pretty high. After a few seconds they saw were they were headed and realized they had only one chance.

The car was dropped on a conveyor and Castle and Beckett both hit their heads hard as they were thrown against the hard metal surface of the trunk by the impact of the collision. It took them a few seconds to recover. By then the old car had almost reached its final destination. The car compactor. When they realized they hurried to jump out of the moving object. It wasn't really high, but enough so both took a few bruises.

"I think that was enough action for one day." Castle stated as he looked back at the car that was now falling into the car compactor.

"Absolutely, ... but unfortunately I think there might be some more awaiting us." Beckett brushed away a strand of her that had fallen into her face during the jump. "Come on we need to get back to the hotel."

Castle was starting to follow her when his eyes fell on something on her. "Hey when did you get that?" He took her wrist to stop her in her tracks.

"Get what?" She shot him a quizzically look, clearly not buying what he was getting at.

Castle pulled her hand up to show her what he was talking about. "That!"

"Oh my god. What did I do last night?" Her eyes wandered off. A thousands thoughts running through her head. She couldn't have been that drunk, could she? She was still absentminded. If Castle tried to talk to her at the moment he wouldn't succeed. But then she saw something that made her hold her breath for a moment. "Castle ..."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Look at your hand." It was there too. Why was it there too?

"Whoaa! Kate, I swear I'm never going to touch alcohol ever again." He seemed surprised, but not as shocked as Kate.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you can see it yourself ... what happens when I or we drink too much." He wanted to take this light, because the situation was kind of funny, but he didn't smile though. He could see that Beckett wasn't in the mood for it. If he would make fun of this she would shout him.

"So you're saying being married to me is the worst thing that can happen? Or at least one of them."

"Wha .. No! I never said that!"

"But you were just implying that it could only have happened, because you were drunk. So clearly it has to be, if you would never even think about the possibility when you're sober." Kate was really pissed up. She was ready to just walk away.

"No, I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry if it came out wrong." He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "But you're not even my girlfriend, so why would I have thought about marrying you?" He carried on before she could interrupt "And even if you were, I would have never wanted for it to happen that way."

Beckett sighed. "I'm sorry. You're right, I'm just ... I don't know. This is a lot to take in." She ran both of her hands through her hair.

"I know." He smiled at her. It wasn't that big grin he reserved for his fans. It was that small, soft smile, he only showed her.

"What are we doing about this?" She held up her left hand to make clear what she was talking about, although Castle knew exactly what she meant.

"I don't know." He was rubbing his neck "But we could leave the decision until after we dealt with this case. Only if you don't mind?" He was leaving it up to her. Of course they could go and handle the situation right away, but clearly they had better things to do. Solve a murder, for example. And find out who wanted to get rid of them.

"No, that's fine with me." She looked at the ring. It was actually really beautiful, now that she took a closer look. It was golden, with three single silver lines barely visible. "Hey, do mind if I put the ring on the necklace together with my mom's engagement ring?"

"You don't want anyone to find out?"

Kate shook her head. "No. There is no point in telling them, if we annul it anyway." She look down at her hand, so she didn't notice the sad look Castle was giving her.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He looked at his own ring "Do you mind if I keep mine on?"

"No, I don't. Just don't tell them it's me, okay?"

"Okay." Castle nodded, his smile had already disappeared from his face.

"Alright. Now we really need to go. Come on." She tried to smile at him when she called out to him, but he could see that it was forced. She wasn't comfortable with this situation.

* * *

_I know it is shorter than the last one and I'm sorry. But this was a nice ending. So look out for the next one. _

_About the car compactor: I don't really know how it works, but I saw the first episode of Bumpety Boo recently (childhood memories :D) and I borrowed the idea._


	7. Chapter 7

_Got a new chapter for you. Enjoy! :D_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

They finally managed to hail a cab, after several tries. They didn't have their wallets on them. So as soon as the drivers heard that they had no money and probably couldn't pay them they took off again. Only an hour later they found Paul. He took his time to listen to their story and offered to take them back for free.

"Thanks very much, Mr. Sudden." Kate spoke from the back of the car.

"No problem Sweetie. Can't just let you two walk all that way back there." Kate saw him smiling at her through the review mirror. He was in his fifties, maybe. His hair was already showing some gray in a few places. He wore glasses which reminded her a little bit of the ones Gates had.

"We don't have money, but I still have my watch." Castle was beginning to take it off "I can give it to you as payment."

"No, no. It's fine. Just keep it." Paul held his hand up to wave him off."And by the way, this watch looks really expensive. You would be paying far too much."

"It's worth it." Castle really didn't care as long as they got back. He could easily afford thousand new ones if he wanted to.

"No thanks."

* * *

When they finally arrived back at the hotel it was already getting dark. Castle got out of the car first, holding his hand out for Kate to help her, but she didn't take it. She just stepped out next to him, still not looking him into the eyes. Clearly hurt by this Castle looked down for a moment, before shaking it off. He could deal with their little accident later. For now they had other things to do. There was still a murder to solve.

He was leaning into the passenger door window of the cab and thanked Paul again, but the older man acted as if it was nothing, telling him it was something everybody would have done, before driving off.

Together Castle and Beckett went inside the hotel lobby, but instead of the elevator Kate went to the receptionist, which made Castle turn in his tracks.

"Where are you going?"

"We need room keys, don't we?" she told him, one eyebrow raised. "I don't have mine on me anymore. You?"

Castle was feeling through his pockets, but came up empty. "No, I don't. Whoever did this to us must have taken our key to." And then he couldn't help but adding "I'm glad they left us our clothes." smirking at her, just to get her shake her head at him. But he could still see that slight smile which was forming on her face, although she tried to fight it.

"Good evening. How can I help you?" The young woman at the reception was greeting them with a large smile plastered on her face and a questioning look.

"Hi. I'm sorry, but we lost our key. Could we get new ones until we find the others?" Kate told her.

"Sure. I'm gonna need you're names and the room number please."

"I'm Katherine Beckett and this is Richard Castle. We are in the Superior Suite."

"Alright. Then I just need a credit card from one of you, in case you don't find the other keys, and then you need to sign right here. " The receptionist, her name was Sally, pointed to the sheet of paper in front of Kate. But she wasn't looking at her but at Castle. They didn't have their wallets, let alone their credit cards.

Castle cut in "I'm sorry we don't have them with us. We left them in our room." He smiled at her – his best smile, hoping his charm would work on her. "Maybe we could handle that part later?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Castle." His charm didn't work. "We have protocol. If you don't even have your wallet with you, you also have no ID with you. How can I be sure it's really your room? How can I be sure you really are Richard Castle and not just pretending to be so you can get into his room?" Clearly she didn't knew him or she would have recognized him.

"Excuse me? You're saying you don't know me?" He seemed rather surprised. Not by the fact that not everyone knew him by now, but more about her not informing herself about who stayed at their hotel.

Just at this moment the hotel manager walked past them and was listening in to their conversation. To avoid further damage he almost sprinted over. "Mr. Castle, so nice to see you again. I hope you enjoyed your day out?" He shook Castle's hand eagerly while glaring at Sally, who was getting a little embarrassed.

"Well you could say it was pretty interesting." He just stated not wanting to go into any details. He was damn tired, although they hadn't really done much. All he wanted to do was get upstairs and fall into his bed.

"Good to hear." The manager just smiled and then turned on to Sally. "Sally would you give those two their keys?" She just nodded silently. "And also sent some champagne. It's on the house." He shook their hands again before walking away.

* * *

They rode the elevator up in silence. Just as it stopped at their floor Castle pushed the stop-button to keep the doors from opening. Kate looked at him confused.

"What are you doing, Castle?" She was about to reach for the button when he grab her wrist and pulled her away.

"We should talk about this."

"About what? The elevator getting stuck because of you? Or us getting knocked down and robbed and dumped at the junkyard?"

"Actually the thing that happened before. And you know it."

She sighed "Not now, Castle."

"Then when? When the case is over? When this marriage is over because we just ignored and annulled it?"

"It's not even real Castle. It was just an accident okay."

"Why won't you give it a try? Don't tell me you don't feel anything at all!" He was almost yelling at her now, tears forming in his eyes.

"No, Castle that's not it. It's just this feeling of skipping a really important step." She was looking down now. "Don't you think people should try dating first before getting married?"

"Yes, that's how it works ... sometimes. Not all people stick to that order." Now he smiled at her, still some tears in his eyes. "But it has never been easy between the two of us and maybe that's what makes it all worth it."

She was still worried and he could see it, but she considered the option in her head now and he could see that too. Her lips twitched to the side and her brows furrowed.

"Fine. I'll try, but I can't promise anything and I'm not going to move in." Castle's broke into a smile and he couldn't help but hug her. This was okay for Kate. A hug was going slow. They had done it before, even when she was dating other guys. As she pulled away she reached to press the button, so they could finally get off the elevator. "Come on Castle, before someone thinks we're stuck for real and calls for help" She turned back to look at him when he suddenly came closer to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek, just before the doors opened.  
Without saying a word he walked past her. "Don't get ahead of yourself Castle and don't try anything funny tonight." She called after him before also getting off, not hiding her smile at all. Castle couldn't see it with his back turned to her.

* * *

Castle fished the key cards out of his pockets and tried to open the door. Once, twice. After the third time he gave up, handing it to Kate who could barely hold back laughing. "Why can't they just use normal keys like every other person?" He spoke in frustration, more to himself as to anyone else.

"It wouldn't be as funny if they did." Kate answered, although she knew it was a rhetorical question.

"I'm glad I amuse you."

"Always" She smiled, but didn't look up at him now as she was trying to open the door. As expected Kate succeeded at the first try.

When they walked in they stopped after a few steps, their smiles falling from their faces.

"This day is getting better and better, isn't it? " Castle looked around the room and then back at Kate.

"If this is what you call good then I don't wanna see bad." She told him, not facing him so she could still look at the view in front of her. But Castle didn't need to see, to know she was having 'her look'. "Well you better find some money for housekeeping. The won't be happy to clean up this mess."

Both of them decided to look through all the rooms. It looked the same in all of them. Their clothes and papers were all over the floor. Pillows were torn, mattresses were half pulled off the bed and cupboards and closets were open. Someone was in here and he had been looking for something.

* * *

_That's it for today ;) Hope you enjoyed_


	8. Chapter 8

_It seems like no one notice where I borrowed the taxi drivers name ;) well, it's still time. _

_I wanna thank everyone who took the time to review!_

_Now enjoy the next chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 8**

They had informed the manager. He had called 911. The manager, Mr Smith, was now standing between Castle and Beckett, apologizing over and over again. "I'm so sorry Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett. I have no idea how this could have happened. Of course you will get another room. For free. But unfortunately I can't promise it will meet the high standards of the suite you had."

"It's fine. As long as there is a bed I'm okay with it." Beckett just wanted him to stop talking. The police was arriving and she needed to focus on them. CSU started to collect evidence as soon as they were through the door. Another man stopped to greet Castle and Beckett.

"Hello, I'm Detective Jules. I understand that this is your room?"

"Yes it is." Beckett answered as they shook hands.

"Well, I'm gonna need your names." he took out his notepad.

"I'm Katherine Beckett. Detective Kate Beckett."

Jules just raised his eyebrows, but was still looking at his notepad to finish writing. "A Detective? Are you here on vacation?"

"No, were here to investigate a case."

The other detective was looking around to take in the room. "Tell me. How can you afford this room? Clearly your department wouldn't pay for all of this."

"Oh, that's on me." Castle cut in. "I offered to pay."

"And your name is" the detective was now looking at Castle.

"I'm Richard Castle."

"Like the author?" he hadn't finished writing his name down yet.

"Yes, that's me." Castle smiled at being recognized.

"Okay. Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett, could either of you think of you of anyone who could have done this?" he asked pointing to the room behind him.

"Well, if I had to guess I would say it's the people we are investigating and that we're getting to close." Beckett offered.

"We must have pissed them off pretty bad. They also kidnapped us. We woke up at the junkyard this morning and almost ended up in the car compactor. We just came back from our little trip."

Jules wrote everything down and went on "Did you notice anything missing?"

Castle and Beckett just shrugged their shoulders. "We haven't had the time to look around yet. But if they didn't let our phones and wallets fall during their search of our hotel room, then these are missing." This was the only thing Beckett could give him right now. "But I will look though the room again and let you know if there is anything else."

"Oookay." The detective was stretching out the word while finishing the last sentence on his notepad and tucking it away in his coat, pulling out something else in return. "Here is my card. Just give me a call if there is anything I can help you with or if you can think of anything else."

Beckett looked at it briefly before putting it away "Thanks, we will." Jules turned around to talk to his team about any progress.

* * *

An hour later the police was gone and Castle and Beckett could gather their belongings. In the progress they notices that, beside their phones and wallets, nothing was missing. They just threw everything into their bags, after all they were practically just moving next door. The manager had arranged another suite for them. It was a smaller one. When they opened the door they found the living room. A large couch was arranged in front of a small table at one side of the room. At the other side was a large TV, begging for Castle to turn it on. He went over immediately, let his bag drop on the table and dropped down on the couch. Beckett went to the inspect the next room. It was the bathroom. A large jacuzzi in one corner and a shower in the next. She was in heaven, but if the door couldn't be locked she was in hell. Then she went on to the next room and was greeted by a large bed. This was hers, definitely.

"Castle!" She said, looking through the door. "You're sleeping on the couch."

"Why? What about the bed?"

"Well, there is a bed, but it's just one bed." She hoped he would get the meaning and be a gentleman.

"We could take turns."

"How about being a gentleman, Mr. Castle?"

"How about we share, Mrs. Castle?" he teased.

"Okay, we take turns." She said turning around to unpack her stuff. This had hit her. She had agreed to trying, but hearing this name was something she would have to get used to, if she ever would. Did she even ...?

"Hey Castle! Who says I'm giving up my name or have given it up?"

"I don't know. It has a nice sound, don't you think? Kate Castle." he said smiling.

"Let's check it out first thing in the morning. It's bugging me. I love my name. It's part of me and it's part of my mom." She was grabbing the ring on her necklace. "And it's also part of my job, kind of."

"Okay." He gave her that small, warm smile "We can still change it back. It's been barely a day."

"Thanks, Castle." She was retreating into the bedroom again, smiling. "Goodnight Castle."

"Until tomorrow, Kate."

* * *

The next day they were up early. They wanted to find out what had happened to them and of course find whoever murdered Allan Parker. Getting breakfast wasn't Beckett's first priority, but Castle got her to eat some cereals with fruits and drink her coffee. He also wanted to shave, since he hadn't in two days, but Kate dragged him out of the room. "Come on, Writer-Boy. You look good enough."

"You really think so?" He asked excitedly.

"Sure." She went on to the elevator and pressed the button. "And if you tell anyone I said this, I will have to shoot you."

(-)

The casino didn't open until much later, so they had to use the back entrance. After a few steps they met a security guard. Without saying a word she showed him her badge and he just nodded. They went on to the control -and monitoring room. When they went in their was not Tommy this time, but a tall, but thin guy with a game console in his hands. "Hello, I'm looking for Tommy."

"And who are you?" the other guy, Kate could see his name was Chuck, asked.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett." she showed her badge again. "This is my partner Rick Castle. We spoke to Tommy the day before yesterday."

"I'm sorry to tell you, ma'am, but they told me he died yesterday. Heart attack or something."

"Heart attack?"

"Yeah, it can happen. Especially when you have eating habits like him. Chocolate, pizza, burger for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Rick spoke to Chuck "It must be hard to lose a friend."

"We weren't really friends. When we met we said hello or goodbye, stuff like that."

"I need to ask you if he told you about the footage he wanted to prepare for me." Kate asked him cautiously.

"Yeah, it's in the box over there." he motioned to a corner of the room without looking away from his game. Castle was just glad this man wasn't responsible for the building he was living in. Eduardo was reliable and he was thankful for it.

Castle open the box to look inside. Tapes. This was the right one. He picked it up. "Thanks for everything Chuck." He spoke sarcastically.

"Don't mention it, man."

I won't Castle thought. Beckett just raised her eyebrows and shrugged. She was probably thinking the same thing he was.

They made their way out and to the wedding hall of the casino, looking for a pastor. Finding nobody she decided to look through all the files herself, until she found the entry. February, 4th 2012. She really had gotten married and to top it off on her mothers birthday. But despite being wasted, she seemed to had managed being sober enough to remember keeping her name. She was still Kate Beckett.

* * *

_Any thoughts? Suggestion?_


	9. Chapter 9

_I'm sorry. I'm not really inspired at the moment. I know who the killer is and I know were I want this to go for Castle and Beckett, but (obviously) I can't just write the ending._

* * *

**Chapter 9**

On their way back to the hotel they both got new cell phones. Castle had enough money stored in his bag to survive a month. Once they were in their room she called Esposito to check on the case and to tell them what happened. She was sure they had tried calling her several times the last day and they were worried. If they hadn't send a search troop yet or gone to look for Castle and her themselves, they were at least seriously freaking out.

"Yeah, we're fine Espo. No, you don't need to come. Gates wouldn't let you anyway."She had been right. Esposito and Ryan had been worried. More than worried, but now was not the time for mental hugs. "Espo, reunion later. Just tell me what you found out."

"Fine, Beckett. But it's not much. We were looking through that footage from the hotel most of the day yesterday. A lot of people went in and out, but no one seemed to carry a gun, except for the security and the police of course." She could hear him scroll through his notes "We started interrogate the staff and the guests of the hotel, starting with those who had shift and whose rooms were closest. A young woman in the room next door woke up because of a loud noise. She thought it was a door slamming. But now she thinks it might have been the gun shot. That's all so far." he closed his notepad "Oh. No, wait. We also talked to the manager again. There was a detective that night, who asked for Allan Parker, but left without talking to him. We didn't spot him again on the tape."

"What's the name of the detective?" Castle and Beckett asked in unison.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me I am on speaker?" The boys really did spent to much time with Castle. Esposito started to sound like Castle sometimes. "Hey Castle. How are you?"

"I'm fine, just like Beckett said. Thanks man. But they stole our phones and I just renewed my contract." Castle countered.

"Guys." Beckett interrupted. "The case, remember?" She rose her eyebrow at Castle, because Esposito couldn't see it. But he definitely knew she was doing it. "So, what's the name Espo?"

"I don't know" he just offered.

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't you ask?" Beckett was a little confused. This was the basics of interrogating.

"Of course I asked, but the manager couldn't remember." he replied "And we can't get a clear shot out of the footage. He's with his back to the camera."

"Well, then try to get a description. Get him to sit down with a sketch artist."

"Already on it."

"Okay Espo, keep going with the interviews. Hopefully something will pop up. Castle and I are gonna watch the footage from the casino tonight."

"What?" Castle looked at her a little surprised. "I thought we were going to relax after that day we had yesterday? Maybe a nice hot bath, a little champagne and we could work on our .. ouch!" He didn't get around to finish what he was about to say. Beckett had already elbowed him in the ribs.

"On our case." Beckett finished for him. Her glare was deadly.

"Yes, the case. Alright." He sighed.

"Oookay." They both were startled by Esposito's voice over the phone. "I'll leave you both to it then." She couldn't see his grin, but she could hear it in his voice. "Bye"

"Bye, Espo" She clicked the phone off and fell back onto the couch to relay for a moment. It really had been a hell of a day, but they needed to keep going. Allan Parker and Jacqueline Rodgers deserved justice.

She was looking at Castle seriously. "You weren't just going to say 'marriage', weren't you?"

"Sorry" he looked down at his feet, his hands playing with the hem of his shirt.

"It's okay. I stopped you just in time. Just be careful the next time, okay?"

"Okay." He smiled lightly.

"Come on, Castle. Movie time." She stood up getting the first tape out of the box. "If you want you can order some popcorn" she sat back down on the couch tapping the free space beside her on the large couch.

* * *

Kate woke up the next morning. Slowly opening one eyelid she realized were she was. The living room. She must have fallen asleep last night while watching the footage. The TV was still on. She tried to remember were they had left off, when her mind registered something else. Three hands. Why were there three hands? She had only two. That could only mean one thing. She was looking herself up and down. She still had her clothes on. 'Good' ... Whoah! She could feel him move behind her. His body pressing tighter against her and his hand moving higher on her stomach. Was he awake?

"Castle?" he didn't respond. Good. She could easily escape this awkward situation and pretend it never happened. Almost in slow motion Kate tried to slip off the couch, but failed. His hand tightened around her to keep her in place. "So, you are awake? Why are you pretending?"

"Don' get up yet. Stay in bed."

"Castle, we need to get up. There is still a lot of work to do. We didn't finish the tapes. We fell asleep last night."

"Told ya, we should have relaxed."

"There's no time for this." She tried to get up again. But he pulled her back. Again.

"Just a few more minutes." he rested his head on his right arm so he could look at her. "Please?"

Kate just sighed "Okay. Five minutes, but not a second longer or I will have to shoot you."

"Understood." He lay down again, smiling against her neck. He had won this round.

(...)

An hour later she woke up again. She hadn't realized she was still tired when she woke up an hour ago. But now it was really time to get up. She reached for Castles hand on her stomach to wake him up. "Come on. The five minutes are long over."

"I know. I just didn't want to wake you."

"Thanks." She smiled at him "I'm gonna use the shower." She stood up and disappeared in the bathroom, only to reappear fifteen minutes later.

"Hey. I hope you're hungry. I took the liberty of ordering a late breakfast. Take whatever you want."

She really was hungry. They only had eaten some popcorn last night and not much yesterday all day. So she could use this energy. "Wow. This looks great, Castle." He had ordered the usually pancakes, but also some bacon and eggs, toast, grapes, orange juice and coffee.

"You're welcome. I'll be back in a minute. I'll just take a quick shower." He strode toward the bathroom and, pushing his luck, bent down to peck her on the lips as he went by her.

She managed to smack him on the back before he could escape into the bathroom. "You're lucky I don't have my gun on me." But really. Now that she thought about it, where was her gun? She couldn't remember seeing it in her bag. So were the hell was it?

* * *

_Hope you still like it._


	10. Chapter 10

_Here is the next chapter guys. It's especially for __ekinha17__. I watched that movie you recommended. It's really good ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"You sure you didn't put it in one of the drawers?" Castle asked while looking through every one of them. "Or maybe you left it in the other room."

"Castle, I had it on me when we went into the casino the first time and I never touched it since then. So yes, I'm sure I didn't left it anywhere. They must have taken it along with our phones and wallets." She pulled her phone out to tell Detective Jules. "Hello, this is Detective Beckett ... yes we're fine ... I just wanted to tell you that I just noticed my gun is missing. Could be it has been taken too ... Yes Sir, but we'll be cautious ... Thank you."

"So what did he say?" Castle was curious, since she didn't have it on speaker.

"Nothing special. Just thanking me for the information and that he's looking out for my gun, if it will be used. Oh, and he said to be careful if we're still trying to investigate our case after everything that's happened."

Castle was thinking for a moment "So, what do we do next? Should we watch the rest of that footage"

"How about we do that later. We still haven't found out where our victim was living. They had no address on file." Kate was grabbing her jacket. "Someone had to know"

"Maybe there was no address because he wasn't living on a street, but under one." It was supposed to be a question, but it didn't come out like one. He got only a confused look from Beckett. "I saw this documentation once about people in Las Vegas living underground in the canal system because they can't pay for the life up here."

"How much TV do you actually watch?"

"Enough, but this is not the point now." He took his jacket, too "So you wanna go and check this out?"

"Oh, why not. We don't have a better lead."She walked towards the door and Castle was already there to open it for her.

(...)

"So you really think there are people down her? It's not really ... comfortable. It's dark and dirty." Beckett stated as they began to walk through the canal systems.

"If you can't afford anything else, it's still better than nothing I guess."

After a few minutes they found a bed on the left side. There was also a table and a few boxes were they stored their belongings. But no one seemed to be home so they went on and it only took them a few more minutes before they reached the next home. This one was only a tent. When they got closer they heard someone calling. "Who is this?!"

"NYPD. Could I talk to you for a second?"

The man crawled out of his tent "The police? You're not here to banish us from our homes, are you? This is all we've got."

"No, I'm not interested in any of this. I'm a homicide detective, Mr. ...?"

"Joley. Ron Joley."

"We're investigating the murder of Allan Parker. Do you know him." Beckett showed him a photo of the victim, illuminating it with her flashlight.

"Yeah I have seen him a couple of times down here, but he just moved here recently. Said he's been living up on the streets for a while.." he scratched his head, thinking "Maybe you should walk further inside. You know who comes first gets the best spots, but the later they come the less place there is to use. They have to go to the more dark and secluded places."

"You already can't see much here were you are living." Castle was shocked. How could someone live down here, in almost complete darkness over years. It was always worse when you saw it for real with your own eyes, than just on TV.

"Well, it's getting worse." Ron just shrugged. He was already used to all of this.

"Okay, thank you."Beckett turned to go "Come on Castle."

Castle gulped "Maybe I should wait here. You know ... just in case. If something happens, I'm closer to the exit and I can get help ... "

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrows at him "Want me to hold your hand?" she joked, totally amused by his behavior.

"You would do that?" surprise covered his face and he held out his right hand.

She considered it for a moment. She had only be joking, but it was dark down here. No one would see and if by accident someone saw it was someone they didn't know and never saw again. So what did it matter. She took his hand in hers, slightly smiling. "Better?"

"No ghosts anymore. You scare them all away." he said as they walked further inside hand in hand and he earned a punch to his shoulder for his comment.

(...)

An hour later and after having met several other people – everyone had told them to keep going – they saw a light in one of the corners. A man sat on a mattress in front of a small fire, eating a soup.

"Excuse me sir? I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle. Do you know where I can find Allan Parkers place?" She held his photo up again, maybe for the hundredth time this day.

"You didn't show me your badge." the man retorted. So Beckett just pulled out her badge and flashed it at him.

"Thanks. You can never be too careful, you know." The man didn't bother to stand up "His place is over there, in the corner across the room."He just pointed his finger in the direction. Castle and Beckett thanked him and went straight for Allan's place. Allan had managed to bring his bed down here. There was also a small fold-up table and chair, a drawer and a few boxes with the rest of his stuff. You could say he was one of the more affluent people down here. Not everyone had this. He had also managed to build some kind construction so his furniture wouldn't stand on the ground directly, in case the water level was rising.

"Okay, Castle. Get on your gloves and start looking." Beckett ordered and let go of his hand to put on her own pair of gloves.

They kept looking through everything for a while, when Castle called for her. "Kate, I think i found something." He held out some socks."

"Socks? So?" She didn't get it yet.

"Look inside."

She did and although she had gloves she hoped these were clean and not recently used. She pulled out a small plastic bag filled with a white substance. "Well, since Lanie told us he was on drugs I guess that's his stock."

"Yeah I though so too, but you haven't seen the best." He smiled childishly at her. Then he turned around and opened the top drawer. "I found the socks here and as I was looking through this drawer I saw this small gap and thought 'why not. Give it a try'. And ... " He held on to the small board with his hands for a moment to create tension. But she was tapping impatiently with her foot on the ground so he lifted the board. "Ta-da! What a surprise, huh?"

This really was a surprise. They knew about the drugs. But where did all this money come from. And if he had that kind of money, why would he live down here?

* * *

_I actually saw something on TV about some people in Las Vegas living underground. Thought it might be a nice way to explain his living situation. I hope I portrayed them/the situation without offending anyone._


End file.
